This Day
by Alyssa2
Summary: [OLD] At the crux of the Nibelheim mission, Zax reflects on the Sephiroth he knew, and regrets an unkept promise.


This Day  
-  
Isn't it funny, sometimes, how life never works out the way you want it to?  
  
Funny. Ha. I'm not laughing. This wasn't supposed to happen! This mission was important, but none of this was supposed to happen! We were just out here to neutralize the monster problem... important, sure, we'd've come away heroes when it was over, but it wasn't really all that dangerous, especially for two First-class SOLDIERs!  
  
Not physically dangerous, anyway. Mentally... that's another story.  
  
The metal of the Mako tank is so damn *cold*. It numbs the wound though, so that's okay, I guess... been a while since I've bled this much...   
  
Stupid tanks. Stupid reactor. Stupid mountains! It's so cold here... I HATE the cold, it was never this cold in Gongaga, it never even snowed... Maybe I shoulda stayed in Gongaga, then I wouldn't be here, slumped over a Mako tank, bleeding all over it... no, wait, I think the blood froze. Well, isn't that just peaches and cream.  
  
I'm gonna die, I realize grimly. I'm gonna die miles from home, frozen to a tank in a Mako reactor in the goddamn Nibel mountains, probably of hypothermia more than the wound I got from my own General who's gone completely bonkers, and what's worse, I'm gonna die ALONE.  
  
I give the tank a weak kick. Damn you, Hojo. Damn you and your twisted little games. You're the one who made the monsters, huh? You put 'em in these tanks and made sure Sephiroth would see 'em and then he ran off and spent the night reading your notes and went completely out of his mind and because of that I'm gonna die and Nibelheim's burning and it's all your fault, you goddamn smirking greasy BASTARD.  
  
Who is that? There's someone coming in... Cloud? Cloud, is that you? That better not be you, kid. Get out of here. It's dangerous. Go ho-- ...you don't have a home any more. Because of the General... okay, I changed my mind, kill him. Shoot him in the head before he does anything worse, because I don't think he's getting better.  
  
Peeking out through the shaggy curtain my hair forms over my face (maybe I should've cut this after all), I can see a blur of blue, and spiky blonde hair. Cloud. He's... Cloud, what the hell are you doing with my sword? What makes you think you can handle the Buster Sword?! Use your gun, damn it! If you're gonna kill Sephiroth, SHOOT him first! He's got a sword too and he can use it lots better than you can...!  
  
Of course, I don't have the breath to scream that out like I want to, so Cloud goes right on ahead dragging my sword up the stairs. Good luck, kid. You'll need it.  
  
I close my eyes, clenching my fist weakly. Damn it, Seph, what the hell was in those books you read? Don't you even remember our plans? For your birthday, Seph? Don't you even care about that any more?  
  
...Sephiroth never knew his birthday. He was never told it, never celebrated it. He judged his age by the seasons. He used to say he was "twenty-nine winters old". I used to tease him about it, until I decided to give him a birthday. I stood up, looked him square in the eyes (I am still almost disgustingly proud of that, it sounds easy until you try to do it), and said "General, today is your birthday." And he humored me and let himself be dragged out for a night on the town. I think he thought I just wanted an excuse to party. That's only half true - I did, but I was also damn serious about the birthday thing. I marked it on the calendar, I've been keeping track of the days, and I fully intended to go out and celebrate his thirtieth birthday with him.   
  
Two days. We arrived in Nibelheim two days before his birthday. We were supposed to be done and gone yesterday, and having a party right now. There was supposed to be a performance of LOVELESS today back in Midgar... I wanted to take Sephiroth to that. It would be the best gift I could ever have given him. It was Sephiroth's dirty little secret, something he had made me promise not ever to tell anyone - he loved theatre.   
  
I guess the stage held some kind of special magic for him. I've never been all that fond of it, but to the General, it was his one true love. I'd caught him up late one night in the barracks, watching a videotape of some famous play or another. He looked completely different from the General I'd known - his slitted eyes were wide in rapt attention, he leaned forward to see the TV better, and he was SMILING. I just stood there in the shadows for a while, watching. He must've been really wrapped up in the play, because it's really, really, really hard for a SOLDIER to hide even in the shadows unless he's wearing sunglasses or something. I knew my eyes must've been blazing like a couple of candles in the dark, but Seph never once looked my way.  
  
He showed more emotion watching that play than I'd ever seen him show in my entire life. When the play was over, he turned off the TV and finally noticed me. He was embarrassed as hell and told me to keep quiet about the whole thing. Sure, I'd said with a shrug, fine by me.  
  
I knew that he never really got the opportunity, what with his rank and responsibilities, to slip away and go to the theatre. That's why I wanted to take him to see LOVELESS for his birthday - so that even if he got killed on the next mission we were on, he'd have actually seen a live production of one of those plays he loved so much. I'd have even tried not to fall asleep.  
  
And there he goes now, stumbling down the stairs with his friggin' long sword, holding the head of... something... I don't wanna know what... bleeding from a wound to his stomach. Cloud must've given him that. Good job, kid. I'm proud of you.  
  
This Sephiroth wouldn't care about plays anymore. That's really... very sad, actually. The night I caught Sephiroth watching that tape was when I started to regard him a little differently. Sure I buddied up to him before, I do that to everyone. If I'm on a first-name basis with you (or in Seph's case, a name basis since he had no last name that I knew of) and we exchange more than about ten words in a day, you're my buddy. If I go out to drink with you, you're my buddy whether I know your name or not. That's just who I am. I'm a social guy. But that night, he became more than my general and my buddy. He became more human in my eyes. I started telling him more stuff, he started laughing more at my jokes... we were as close to friends as Sephiroth could get to anyone.  
  
And there goes Cloud, following after Sephiroth. He stops for a moment to get that girl - whatsherface, Tifa - out of the way.  
  
I take my friendships very seriously. I don't believe in any gods or higher powers, but in my world, there are two things I hold almost religiously sacred. Friendships and promises.  
  
["Seph, I promise you I'm gonna do something real special for your birthday once we get this mission done with."  
  
A silver eyebrow arched. "Oh? And what is that?"  
  
"You'll find out on your birthday!"  
  
"Tease."]  
  
I've broken both, this day.  
  
"Cloud... Kill Sephiroth..."  
  
I'm amazed I got that out. Cloud looks up at me, wide-eyed and a little scared, then nods and runs out of the room.  
  
I used to be in the Shinra grunt troops before I got picked for SOLDIER... I think I still know how to aim a gun... and there's Cloud's rifle, right there on the floor...  
  
Gathering all my strength, the strength that got me through the Mako and Jenova treatments in one piece and has probably kept me alive up to this point, I brace my arms against the tank and push up. The blood DID freeze, dammit, and it makes the most disgusting noises as it cracks and peels away from the tank. Finally detaching myself, I slump weakly to the ground.  
  
Can't stop now... if Cloud dies out there, I have to do my friend one last favor.  
  
The gun's in my hand. I drag myself weakly out, staying on my feet just out of sheer will power.  
  
"Happy Birthday... to you..."  
  
It's slow going because half of my body is probably frozen and I can't quite feel my toes. I can hear Cloud screaming something at Sephiroth outside, and then the awful meaty squelch of a sword going through flesh.  
  
Whose sword, though?  
  
"Happy... Birthday to... you...."  
  
I'm almost to the door. I can hear Sephiroth saying something about luck.  
  
"Happy Birthday... dear... Sephiroth...."  
  
I open the door, just in time to see Cloud, bleeding and stabbed through the chest, fling Sephiroth over the railing into the Mako pit, using the leverage of the Masamune. I watch silently as one friend fells another, silver hair and black leather fluttering as my General falls the endless distance into the pit of green. Cloud slumps to the floor, weak from shock and injury, and passes out. I'm on my knees now. Leaving the rifle behind, I drag myself on hands and knees towards the young trooper.  
  
You're my friend too, Cloud. I won't let you down. I won't leave you. If we die, we die together. Right here.  
  
"Happy Birthday... to... you...."  
  
Finishing my final requiem for Sephiroth, I fall down onto Cloud and everything goes black.  
-  
end 


End file.
